Short Brothers (formed in 1908)

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Short Brothers plc is an aerospace company, usually referred to as Shorts, now based at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aircraft. It was particularly notable for its flying boat designs manufactured into the 1950s.In 1943, Shorts was nationalised, later denationalised, and in 1948 moved from its main base at Rochester, Kent to Belfast. In the 1960s, Shorts mainly produced turboprop airliners, major components for aerospace primary manufacturers, and missiles for the British armed forces.In 1989, Shorts was bought by Bombardier, and is the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland. Today, the company's products include aircraft components, engine nacelles and aircraft flight control systems for its parent company Bombardier Aerospace, and for Boeing, Rolls-Royce Deutschland, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.